How a 21-year-old McMaster student landed an interview with Iceland's former PM, Katrín Jakobsdóttir
CBC
For just a bonus of one per cent on an assignment, McMaster University student Ashima Sharma found her way into an interview with Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland's second female prime minister.
"I'm [someone] who likes to think out of the box, and I'm kind of enthusiastic about everything," Sharma told CBC Hamilton. "So if an idea clicks [in] my mind, I follow it until I complete it."
Sharma is an international student from New Delhi who's in the honours philosophy program at the Hamilton university.
"The big goal is go through law school and become a criminal lawyer," she said.
Gender equality, literature and the challenges of women in politics were among the topics discussed during the interview.
"I was really nervous, but I was excited," said Sharma.
"When I saw [Jakobsdóttir], half my nervousness went away, because she was smiling. She was polite. She was kind with me," she said.
Jakobsdóttir was prime minister from 2017 to April 2024. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became Iceland's first female PM, serving four years starting in 2009.
The assignment was for Sharma's class Politics, Power, and Influence in Canada.
Prof. Lev Marder started giving the assignment during the pandemic as a small way for students to "connect with someone that they haven't connected [with] before."
"It's someone that they might admire, someone whose job they might want in the future," Marder told CBC Hamilton.
Other students usually contact other McMaster professors or law firms, but Sharma went "above and beyond."
"I was very excited for her," said Marder. "It's an incredible opportunity that she took for herself."
Sharma's interview came at the perfect time, as one of the next topics in the class will be women's representation in party politics. Marder plans to use the interview to have students reflect and discuss Sharma's gathering.
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